PARIS, March 4 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron has congratulated German Chancellor Angela Merkel and acting SPD leader Olaf Scholz after Germany’s Social Democrats voted in favour of forming a new coalition, the French presidency said on Sunday.

“It’s good news for Europe,” Macron’s office said.

“France and Germany will work together on new initiatives in the coming weeks to bring the European project forward,” the President’s office said in a statement.

Members of the SPD voted in favour of a coalition with Merkel’s conservatives on Sunday, opening the way to a new government for Europe’s largest economy.

Macron’s ambitious reform plans for further integration of the euro zone had been put on hold for months by the absence of a new government in Germany. (Reporting by Michel Rose Editing by Keith Weir and Alexander Smith)